The Progressive Democrat Newsletter grew out of the frustration of the 2004 election. Originally intended for New York City progressives, its readership is now national. For anyone who wants to be alerted by email whenever this newsletter is updated (usually weekly), please send your email address and let me know what state you live in (so I can keep track of my readership).

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Brooklyn, NY Focus

CURRENT TV NYC:

Current TV, founded by Al Gore, includes some of the best journalism in America today. In particular their Vanguard series is amazing and should not be missed by ANYONE who wants to know in depth coverage of some of the major stories in the world.

WWRL Book ClubBecome a member of the WWRL Morning Show, become a Morning Maniac.Here’s your chance to be the recipient of a morning show “MUST READ” book.Every Friday Mark Riley randomly selects a registrant, one per hour (6-9 am) and awards a “Must Read” that keeps up with world events

Sustainable Flatbush brings neighbors together to mobilize, educate, and advocate for sustainable living in our Brooklyn neighborhood and beyond.

The Windsor Terrace Alliance is made up of residents, community groups and businesses of Windsor Terrace interested in advocating for our neighborhood.

DEMOCRACY FOR NYC MEETINGS IN BROOKLYN:

DFNYC, the local affilliate of Howard Dean's Democracy for America has two meetings in Brooklyn. It is a great way to get involved in local reform and progressive politics.

New Location: Midwood/Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn - 7:00 pm, at the home of Steve Slavin, 1421 Ditmas Ave, off the corner of Marlborough Road (equivalent of East 15th St.)Steve's house is a block from the Newkirk stop of the B and Q trains, and 5 blocks from the Coney Island Ave. bus.with hosts Steve Slavin and Vicky Curto.

Democracy for NYC (DFNYC) is committed to the ideals espoused by Democracy for America, the organization founded by Howard Dean, and the national network of local coalition groups dedicated to the same.

We work both locally and nationally to ensure that fiscally responsible and socially progressive candidates are elected at all levels of government. We develop innovative ways to advocate for the issues that matter to our members and support legislation which has a positive effect in our communities. We promote transparency and ethical practices in government. We engage people in the political process and give them the tools to organize, communicate, mobilize, and enact change on the local, state, and national level.

CLEAN UP NEW YORK POLITICS:GRASSROOTS NYC: This is an organization founded by fellow Daily Gotham blogger and DFNYC activist Dan Jacoby.

GrassrootsNYC was created to provide a new method for generating real government reform in New York City. Instead of the old-fashioned method of fighting for reform (and usually not getting much done), GrassrootsNYC aims to leverage the power of tens of thousands of reform-minded New Yorkers to force our government to work for us - the way our Founding Fathers intended government to work.

This is a real chance for you to get involved in reforming our political system from the bottom up. To find out more, visit GrassrootsNYC's website and sign up for updates. This could be one of the most important groups you can get involved with if you want to see NYC politics cleaned up.

KEEP WAL-MART OUT OF NYC:

Bloomerg and the right wing New York Post want to help Wal-Mart open up in NYC even though Wal-Mart has been shown to deliberately destroy small businesses, use illegal immigrant labor paying them slave wages, and treating their workers badly.

BROOKLYN NAACP:Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. From the ballot box to the classroom, the thousands of dedicated workers, organizers, leaders and members who make up the NAACP continue to fight for social justice for all Americans.

The National Jewish Democratic Council is the trusted voice and resource for Democratic office holders, candidates and party organizations to better understand and engage with the Jewish community. NJDC mobilizes the Jewish community and convenes opinion leadership to support the Democratic promise for all Americans. We look to our Jewish tradition to guide us on the issues of social and economic justice, religious pluralism and the peace and security of the State of Israel that will be the hallmark of our work.

NJDC believes that through our work in Democratic Party politics, we can ensure a better world for our children and grandchildren.

For more information, or to become a member of the New York chapter, contact msudco2@aol.com.

Volunteers needed who can be there regularly to monitor and help with compost dropoff. Let me know if you’re available - prospectfarm@googlegroups.comProspect Farm's Google group: http://groups.google.com/group/prospectfarm?pli=1

PLASTIC RECYCLING IN BROOKLYN:Recycling of plastics not accepted in the city recycling can be done at the Park Slope Food Co-op at 782 Union Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues)

Bring clean, dry plastic to the Coop's sidewalk during monthly recycling hours. We close up promptly. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the collection end time to allow for inspection and sorting of your plastic:

2nd Sat., 10 AM-2 PM3rd Thur., 7 PM-9 PMLast Sun., 10 AM-2 PM.

We currently collect....

* #1 and #6 transparent plastics (Labels OK. Mouth is wide or wider than the body, meaning NOT bottles.)* #5 plastic tubs, cups & specifically marked lids and caps. Must be especially clean and dry. (Discard any with paper labels, or cut the labels off.)* Plastic film and bubble wrap. 100% transparent only -- must be able to see through the plastic. No colored or opaque. No paper labels. Minimal writing OK.

Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats is a community-based Democratic club. Staunchly opposed to political corruption, we are proud of our independence and our commitment to progressive reform in city, state and national politics. We are a vehicle for citizen empowerment and making government more accountable to our neighborhoods.

We meet monthly, usually the fourth Thursday evening of the month in the basement of the Park Slope United Methodist Church, on the corner of 6th ave and 8th street, at 7:30pm. All are welcome.

Lambda Independent Democrats: s Brooklyn’s largest lesbian and gay political organization. Founded by a group of activists in Boerum Hill in early 1978, we have grown to become one of the state’s largest LGBT political clubs.

Email L.I.D.LIDBrooklyn@gmail.com

New Kings Democrats (”NKD”) is a new, grassroots organization in Kings County (Brooklyn), New York whose primary mission is to recruit and prepare individuals to run for Kings County Democratic Committee. NKD hopes to achieve the goal of an inclusionary and participatory democracy by making it easy for individuals to run for local, elected office. NKD will serve as a training ground for individuals seeking higher office, and hopes to build and nurture a new group of Brooklyn Democratic leaders.

A new group of eager reformers just getting started. For more info join them on face book or contact them:email: phdr718@gmail.comPhone: 646-820-1389

Drinking Liberally Downtown Brooklyn:

An informal, inclusive progressive social group. Raise your spiritswhile you raise your glass, and share ideas while you share a pitcher.Drinking Liberally gives like-minded, left-leaning individuals a placeto talk politics. You don't need to be a policy expert and this isn't abook club - just come and learn from peers, trade jokes, ventfrustration and hang out in an environment where it's not taboo to talkpolitics.

ALSO Eating Liberally Central Brooklyn:Second Tuesday of every month, 7 PM, in local Prospect Heights, Gowanus, or Park Slope restaurants. Hosted by me! Contact me at mole333@gmail.com for more info.

FOOD CO-OPS IN BROOKLYN:

Lefferts Farm Food Cooperative:http://www.meetup.com/PLGFoodCoop/

A newly formed food co-op covering Flatbush, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens and Crown Heights. This group will work toward planning, assessment and implementation of a food buyers or store coop with a mission of offering healthy, sustainable and affordable foods to the community. ANYONE is welcome to join, even if you can't (or don't want to) be directly involved in the planning process as important updates to our progress will be posted here!

Welcome! We are a member-owned and -operated food co-operative located in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, providing affordable, top-quality food for our neighbors in Fort Greene, Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights, and Prospect Heights. Our store at 18 Putnam Avenue is scheduled to open in the Fall. In the meantime, you can join our Co-op and order from our online Buying Club. Hundreds of your neighbors are already Members!

Established in 1976, and located on Cortelyou Road in the heart of Victorian Flatbush since 1985, Flatbush Food Coop is a community-owned, full-service natural foods store specializing in organic products. We are committed to serving the diverse community in which we are situated, and beyond, by providing goods and services that promote personal and environmental well-being. Like the 300 food coops across the nation with which we are affiliated, we are open to all—it is not necessary to be a member to shop. By joining the Coop, however, you become a joint owner of our business and are able to take additional savings on your purchases. There are opportunities for varying degrees of involvement in the coop, and our member-owners are able to influence the direction of our organization. We are particularly proud that the dozens of ethnic groups in Brooklyn’s most diverse neighborhood are reflected in our staff, our close to 3,000 members, and countless shoppers.

This is a great art space in an under-utilized, under visited part of Brooklyn. From their website:

Proteus Gowanus is an interdisciplinary gallery and reading room housed in a former 1900 box factory located centrally among several vibrant Brooklyn communities. Proteus Gowanus is named after both the Greek sea god who could change form and the neighboring Gowanus Canal, a changing post-industrial waterfront area with a thriving artistic community and a history dating back to the Revolutionary War and earlier.

Proteus Gowanus exhibitions, programs and publications are developed by a core collaborative of artists, writers and workers in other disciplines, with help from an extended community of PG correspondents. Proteus Gowanus also works reciprocally with a group of non-profit partner organizations that utilize the Proteus space and receive proceeds from sales. Proteus Gowanus incorporates the rich, interdisciplinary resources of its non-profit partners into exhibits and programs.

Some regular events at Proetus Gowanus:

Writers, readers and others are invited to join Study Hall and work in our gallery and library spaces from Mondays-Fridays, 10 am - 5 pm.

Every Thursday from 5-8 pm, the Fixers Collective meets at Proteus Gowanus. See Fixers Collective page for details and be sure to fill out the Fix Sheet. $5 donation.